A Good Society

A good Society – characteristics and benefits

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The paramount importance of:

Absence of Corruption
Truthful, Unbiased, and Objective Media
Easy Access to Free Education
Income Equality
Avoiding Concentration of Wealth and Power
Economy Powered by Reciprocity and Cooperation
Humble and Empathetic Leadership
A Well-functioning Democracy
Welfare i.e. Social Security, Free Health Care, and Child Care

Better Life Index

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has devised a Better Life Index composed of 11 important factors – described below – characterizing a good society.

1. Housing

Living in satisfactory housing conditions is one of the most important aspects of living in a good society.

You need to have a home i.e. a shelter providing personal space, safety, privacy for resting and sleeping, and with basic facilities like fresh water and waste disposal and optimally an indoor flushing toilet.

A home should be payable and spacious enough to allow raising a family without overcrowding.

2. Income

The disposable net income is the money earned minus taxes and transfers. It is the money available for spending on goods (including food) or services.

Financial wealth makes up an important part of a household’s economic resources and can protect from economic hardship and vulnerability. The absence of poverty is essential in a good society.

3. Jobs

Work has obvious economic benefits, but having a job also helps individuals stay connected with society, build self-esteem, and develop skills and competencies. Good societies have high levels of employment, they are richer, more politically stable, and healthier.

Creating more and better jobs is a major challenge for governments. Faced with aging populations and rising social expenditures, facilitating employment for those who can work has become a priority.

Another essential factor is job security. A good society will take care of people if they become unemployed.

4. Community

Humans are social creatures. The frequency of our contact with others and the quality of our personal relationships are crucial determinants of our well-being. Studies show that time spent with friends is associated with a higher average level of positive feelings.

A strong social network, or community, can provide emotional support during both good and bad times as well as access to jobs, services, and other material opportunities.

5. Education

Education plays a key role in providing individuals with the knowledge, skills, and competencies needed to participate effectively in society and in the economy. In addition, education may improve people’s lives in such areas as health, civic participation, political interest, and happiness. Easy access to education at all levels is of paramount importance in a good society.

6. Environment

The quality of our local living environment has a direct impact on our health and well-being. An unspoiled environment is a source of satisfaction, improves mental well-being, allows people to recover from the stress of everyday life, and to perform physical activity.

Protecting our environment and natural resources, therefore, remains a long-term priority for both our generation and those to come. Sustainability and taking care of the environment are essential in a good society.

Access to clean water is fundamental to human well-being.

Due to climate change, frequencies of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, heatwaves, and forrest changes including forrest fire events will increase, and crop yield and production will decrease. It is therefore of paramount importance to take every possible step to counteract climate change.

7. Civic Engagement

Trust in government is essential for a good society in regard to social cohesion and well-being. Today, more than ever, citizens demand openness and greater transparency from their governments with the aim of improving public services and minimizing the risk of mismanagement of public funds and corruption.

High voter turnout is desirable in a democracy because it increases the chance that the political system reflects the will of a large number of individuals and that the government enjoys a high degree of legitimacy.

Public engagement in decision-making promotes government accountability, a friendly business environment, and public trust in government institutions.

In this context the news media are important. They need to be fact-oriented, trustworthy, unbiased, balanced, and independent of any financial or political influence so that they can support the smooth working of democracy for the benefit of society.

8. Health

Good health is one of the most important things to people in the community and also brings many other benefits, including enhanced access to education and the job market, an increase in productivity and wealth, reduced health care costs, good social relations, and of course, a longer life.

9. Life Satisfaction

Measuring feelings can be very subjective but is nonetheless a useful complement to more objective data when comparing the quality of life across countries.

Subjective data can provide a personal evaluation of an individual’s health, education, income, personal fulfillment, and social conditions. Surveys, in particular, are used to measure life satisfaction and happiness.

Life satisfaction measures how people evaluate their life as a whole rather than their current feelings. In a good society, more people will be satisfied with their life.

10. Safety

Personal security is a core element of the well-being of individuals and includes the risks of people being physically assaulted or falling victim to other types of crime. In a good society, people can feel safe.

Crime may lead to loss of life and property, as well as physical pain, post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and feeling of vulnerability.

11. Work-Life Balance

Finding a suitable balance between work and daily living is a challenge that all workers face. Families are particularly affected. The ability to successfully combine work, family commitments and personal life are important for the well-being of all members of a household.

The amount and quality of leisure time are important for people’s overall well-being and can bring additional physical and mental health benefits.

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Where in the world is it easiest to get rich?

If you think it is in the USA, you are not alone, but according to sociologist Harald Eia you are mistaken, as you can see in this humorous video.

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Absence of corruption

Transparency International (TI) has published the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). The CPI defines corruption as “the misuse of public power for private benefit”.

The CPI currently ranks 180 countries “on a scale from 100 (very clean) to 0 (highly corrupt)”.

The economic consequences of corruption are marked. With lesser corruption the long-term economic growth and the rate of foreign investment increase.

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Truthful media

In our complex world, the existence of reliable news media is of paramount importance.

The media should provide information that is objective, neutral, factual, and unbiased.

Freedom of all news media is fundamental. Any censorship by the state, the government, or special interest groups is paralyzing and will weaken society sooner or later.

Information problems in totalitarian states

In totalitarian states like autocracies and dictatorships, the news media are censored and the news to the public is corrected or even fabricated centrally to conform to the views of the leadership.

The population is only exposed to the distorted information of the leadership. Other sources of information are being oppressed. However, intelligent and resourceful people can find out the truth, and because of the oppression and the lying, they may leave – brain draining the country.

The leadership becomes more and more domineering and it increasingly perceives itself as infallible and godlike.

The full perspective is lost and constructive criticism and alternative views are neither permissible nor possible:

The leadership instigates self-glorifying and megalomaniac disinformation to brainwash the population to support – and to think like – the leaders. This markedly reduces the working brainpower of the country. It makes people closed-minded, disengaged, passive, and brainless.
In some instances, children from the age of 4-5 years are indoctrinated with the same narrative to ensure future brainless support to the regime.
Even if alternative views occur, they will be oppressed by the leadership.
Persons – even those close to the leader – who express alternative views may be ridiculed, degraded, or severely punished.

Sooner or later this will lead to the leadership being out of touch with reality (it has become trapped in its own disinformation – much like in an echo chamber), and the resulting misjudgments can lead to brainless actions that are disastrous to the country and its population. In our globalized world, this can have significant side effects in other parts of the world.

Fake news

Fake news is disinformation that is detrimental to any society.

Opinion is not information.

In the video below Vanessa Otero ranks an ever-growing partisan media landscape, with the belief that an informed public is a better public.

Click the picture below to see Vanessa Otero’s political media bias chart in detail.

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Role of social media

Social media mostly present opinions. Hidden behind the screen it is easy to publish opinions about almost everything.

Sometimes this can have serious side effects including the emergence of fanatic or extreme echo chambers.

To protect democracy tighter control and legal restrictions are necessary.

Unfortunately such regulation is not likely to happen:

Social media will not tighten rules themselves because of the difficulty of enforcement and the risk of reduced revenue.
Politicians will remain inactive as they depend on social media for their own promotion.

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Easy Access to Free Education

Free education funded through the government is fundamental in guaranteeing everyone has access to education. This serves to unfold the talents in the population and to further social mobility.

Good Education

Sir Ken Robinson outlines 3 principles crucial for the human mind to flourish: 1) foster diversity, 2) promote curiosity, and 3) awaken creativity, which current education culture often works against.

In a funny, stirring talk he tells us in a video how to get out of the educational “death valley” we now face, and how to nurture our youngest generations with a climate of possibility.

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Income Equality

Here is a list of countries by income equality as measured by Gini coefficients. Lower Gini coefficients indicate more equal income distributions.

Income equality is more beneficial than trade openness, sound political institutions, or foreign investment.

Economic equality varies between societies, historical periods, economic structures, and systems.

A low income equality (i.e. high inequality) may threaten a country’s political stability, may lead to more health problems in the overall population, and may breed corruption.

Whereas globalization has increased global equality (between nations), it has decreased equality within nations.

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How economic inequality harms societies

instinctively we feel that societies with huge income gaps are somehow going wrong. Professor Richard Wilkinson has studied the effects of economic inequality.

Richard Wilkinson’s most important book, which he published together with his wife professor Kate Pickett, is “The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better”.

The book argues that inequality erodes trust, increases anxiety and illness, and encourages excessive consumption. In particular economic inequality worsens these eleven specific problems: physical health, mental health, drug abuse, education, imprisonment, obesity, social mobility, trust and community life, violence, teenage pregnancies, and child well-being.

In the video professor, Wilkinson gives a splendid talk about the problems caused by economic inequality.

Recently Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett published this book, which expands on their previous findings:

The Inner Level: How More Equal Societies Reduce Stress, Restore Sanity and Improve Everyone’s Wellbeing

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Warnings from experts in economics

In an important book “The Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future” Professor Joseph Stiglitz – Nobel Prize winner in Economic Sciences – argues that inequality is self-perpetuating, that it is produced by the vast amount of political power the wealthy hold to control legislative and regulatory activity.

“Politics have shaped the market, and shaped it in ways that advantage the top at the expense of the rest.”

Stiglitz blames rent-seeking for causing inequality, with the wealthy using their power to shape monopolies, incur favorable treatment by the government, and pay low taxes.

The end result is not only morally wrong but also hurts the productivity in the economy.

Thomas Piketty is a prominent French Professor of Economics who has written two important books: “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” and “Capital and Ideology“.

He states that when the rate of return on capital (r) is greater than the rate of economic growth (g), the result is a concentration of wealth, and this unequal distribution of wealth causes social and economic instability.

Piketty sees inequality as a social phenomenon, driven by human institutions. He proposes “inheritance for all,” a payment distributed to citizens by their country at the age of 25.

Below is a video where these matters are discussed in an interview with economist Paul Krugman who thinks that the USA is becoming an oligarchy.

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Avoid concentration of wealth and power

The distinguished Noam Chomsky, who is Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), describes how wealth and power are being concentrated in the book “Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power”. He stresses the importance of these trends being reversed.

The ten principles he describes are:

1. Reduce Democracy. Increase government protection of the wealthy from too much democracy.

2. Shape Ideology. Counteract the “excess of democracy” with proper “indoctrination.”

3. Redesign the Economy. Increase the role of financial institutions by allowing them to accumulate an increasing share of corporate profits.

4. Shift the Burden. Make the rich richer through tax reductions for the rich.

5. Attack Solidarity. Reduce Social Security and public education.

6. Run the Regulators. Intensify lobbying to control the regulators to your advantage. The rich and powerful can do that.

7. Engineer Elections. Create corporate personhood, equate money with speech, and lift all limits.

8. Keep the Rabble in Line. Increase attacks on organized labor.

9. Manufacture Consent. Mold consumers to superficial consumption by non-informative advertising. The same principle applies to election campaigns for candidates.

10. Marginalize the Population. Decrease government responsiveness to what the public wants.

Unless the trends described above are reversed, Chomsky says, things are going to get very ugly.

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Recently Thomas Piketty published “A Brief History of Equality“. He expresses optimism that more equality will be achieved in the future by a progressive increase in the tax on the wealthy.

Go to:

Democracy
Autocracy
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Side effects of wealth

While it is obvious that being poor leads to problems, it is perhaps less well recognized that being rich can have undesirable side effects as well.

As a person’s levels of wealth increase, their feelings of entitlement, deservingness, and ideology of self-interest increase.

This often leads to wealthy people being more selfish and unethical. They may be less good at reading others’ emotions, less empathetic, less compassionate, and less generous to others.

In the entertaining but sobering video below, social psychologist Paul Piff shares his research into how people may tend to behave badly when they feel wealthy.

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Wealth does not increase your emotional well-being

An important study by Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton shows that emotional well-being rises only to a yearly income of about $75,000. With higher income there is no further rise – see figure below.

Low income or poverty exacerbates the emotional pain associated with such misfortunes as divorce, ill health (e.g. asthma and headache), and being alone. Low income is associated both with low life evaluation and low emotional well-being.

These findings emphasize the importance of social welfare to reduce suffering caused by a low income. Emotional well-being is satiated at an income of about $75,000 per year, i.e. a higher income does not increase your emotional well-being any further – perhaps on the contrary (lower curve).
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Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of filling a vacuum, it makes one. Benjamin Franklin

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Wealth is like seawater; the more we drink, the thirstier we become, and the same is true of fame. Arthur Schopenhauer

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Better Theory of Economics

A growing number of academics have concluded that neoliberal economic theory is dangerously wrong.

Nick Hanauer, a successful entrepreneur, thinks that the rising inequality and growing political instability are the direct results of decades of bad economic theory.

In this video (← click) he lays out a new theory of economics powered by reciprocity and cooperation.

The main points are:

Markets are not jungles but gardens that must be tended by social norms and democratic regulations.
Inclusion creates economic growth. Including people in more ways gives growth to market economies.
The purpose of the cooperation is to improve the welfare of all stakeholders: customers, workers, the community, and shareholders alike.
Greed is not good. Being rapacious makes you a sociopath.
The “laws” of economics are a choice; they are not natural unchangeable laws. They are social norms and constructive narratives based on pseudoscience.

So if we want a more equitable, more prosperous, and sustainable economy, high-functioning democracies, and civil society we must have a new economics. All we have to do is to choose it.

George Lakey: Viking Economics: How the Scandinavians Got It Right – and How We Can, Too.

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Humble and Empathetic Leadership

Humility is the greatest of all virtues (Socrates).

Research shows that people with greater humility are better learners, decision-makers, and problem solvers. That trait is especially important for leaders.

Abraham Lincoln was famed for his humble attitude, and his capacity to acknowledge his own flaws and errors was thought to have improved his tactical decision-making.

Humbler leaders cultivate greater work engagement and job satisfaction among their employees.

The leader’s humility improves the communication among team members and this creates a more honest and constructive workplace. This improves decision-making.

Leaders should be much readier to ask questions that may reveal their ignorance – rather than attempting to maintain the illusion of knowledge.

The importance of Empathy

The real job of a leader is not about being in charge, but it is about taking care of those in your charge.

The empathetic leader has a genuine interest in team members’ lives, the challenges they face, and their overall feelings.

The empathetic leader knows that listening and understanding come before speaking.

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A well-functioning democracy

Democracy means rule by the people. The most common form is a representative democracy or indirect democracy where – using a free electoral system – people choose to vote for who will represent them in a parliament.

The democratic system should be sensitive i.e. quick to detect and respond to changes in the opinions of the people.
Preferably the parliament should have only one chamber. This allows laws to be passed more efficiently – no deadlock situations.
The parliament should have proportional representation so that all votes can contribute to the result.
The electoral threshold should be sufficiently low to allow minority parties to enter the parliament.

Separation of powers is important to provide checks and balances

Separation of powers refers to the division of a state’s government into “branches”, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches.

The typical division into three branches includes

a parliament making the laws (the legislative branch),
a prime minister with a government having the executive power (the executive branch),
a court system to provide justice in controlling that the laws are complied with (the judicial branch).

The intention behind a system of separated powers is to prevent the concentration of power by providing checks and balances.

Firstly, it ensures that the different branches control each other. This is intended to make them accountable to each other – these are the ‘checks’.

Secondly, it divides power between the different branches of government. This balance aims to ensure that no individual or group of people in government is ‘all-powerful’.

The Democracy Index intends to measure the state of democracy in 167 countries and territories. The index is based on 60 indicators grouped into five different categories, measuring pluralism, civil liberties, and political culture.

Advantages of democracy

It thrives on open minds, diversity, curiosity, creativity, confidence, helpfulness, considerateness, reliability, trustworthiness, accountability, free uncensored media, and people’s engagement in society.
It promotes equality among citizens.
It ensures better quality decisions (see below).
It provides a method to deal with differences and conflicts.
It enhances the dignity of citizens.
It provides room for correcting mistakes.

Democracy improves the quality of decision-making

Democracy is based on consultation and discussion.
A democratic decision always involves many persons, discussions, and meetings.
When a number of people put their heads together, they are able to point out possible mistakes in any decision.
Democracy takes time – but taking time over important decisions is essential.

In this video, Professor Alex Tan makes the case that democracy is still the best form of government — and shares the secret of which kind of democracy works best.

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Does democracy always represent the people?

In the video below, Harvard Professor Lawrence Lessig speaks about the American democracy, which – in his opinion – does not represent the people.

An important problem is Tweedism (after the politician William M. Tweed) by which few persons (the nominators) control those who can be elected, resulting in a system responsive to the nominators rather than the voters.

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Human rights

Freedom of speech is essential and supports the freedom to articulate opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction.

Freedom of association is the right of a person to come together with other individuals to collectively express, promote, pursue and/or defend common interests.

The right to protest is a consequence of the right to freedom of speech and the right to come together with others and peacefully express one’s views. Taking part in marches, protests, and demonstrations must be allowed by the authorities.

Even in a democratic country, a demonstration can be justified in special situations.

In authoritarian states, the human rights are severely restricted.

Iiuritan-

Separation of church and state

Religion is a subjective, personal matter and should not interfere with society, which has to work according to objective, commonly accepted rules.

The separation between the church and the civil state is essential for a society to be acceptable to all its citizens. Religion should never influence the practical workings of civil society.

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Welfare

In a welfare state, the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the social and economic well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those unable to avail themselves of the minimal provisions for a good life. It is a combination of democracy (meaning: rule by the people), welfare, and capitalism.

Through taxation of income, the welfare state transfers funds to the services provided (in particular health care, education, and child care) as well as to individuals in need (social security).

Professor Gøsta Esping-Andersen is a sociologist whose primary focus is on the welfare state and its place in capitalist economies.

His major, most influential book titled “The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism” lays out three main types of welfare state characteristic of modern developed capitalist nations:

Liberal
Corporatist-Statist
Social Democratic

It is important to note that these categories have little to do with the contemporary labels of American politics, and rather have much more to do with general political theory. Examples of the three types of welfare states could be the United States (liberal), Germany (corporatist-statist), and the Nordic countries (social democratic).

The Nordic countries, such as Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland employ a system known as the Nordic model.

Below is a video about different types of welfare states.

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A good country

It’s an unexpected side effect of globalization: problems that once would have stayed local—say, a bank lending out too much money—now have consequences worldwide. But still, countries operate independently, as if alone on the planet. Policy advisor Simon Anholt has dreamed up an unusual scale to get governments thinking outwardly: The Good Country Index.

In a riveting and funny talk in the video below, he answers the question, “Which country does the most good?” The answer may surprise you (especially if you live in the US or China).

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Happiness

Happiness is a combination of how satisfied you are with your life (“life evaluation happiness”) and how good you feel on a day-to-day basis (“emotional happiness”).

What keeps us happy and healthy as we go through life?

If you think it’s fame and money, you’re not alone – but, according to psychiatrist Robert Waldinger, you’re mistaken.

In the video below he shares the simple but crucial information: happiness is about developing and maintaining good relations with family and friends.

Each year, a group of happiness experts from around the globe rank 156 countries based on how “happy” citizens are, and they publish their findings in the World Happiness Report. Happiness might seem like an elusive concept to quantify, but there is a science to it.

What does it take to be happy? Watching the video below may give some answers.

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Satisfaction with Life

The Satisfaction with Life Index was created by Adrian G. White, an analytic social psychologist at the University of Leicester, using data from a metastudy.

The study shows that subjective well-being correlates most strongly with good health, absence of poverty, and access to basic education.
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